Only minutes from downtown Chicago, Lincoln Park is one of the city’s most sought-after addresses. Boasting all the aesthetic and recreational benefits of Lake Michigan and the magnificent Park that gives the neighborhood its name, as well as exceptional dining, shopping and cultural opportunities, Lincoln Park offers a unique urban living experience.
Location
Lincoln Park is a Chicago neighborhood which extends along the Lake Michigan shore from North Avenue to Diversey Parkway, with the Chicago River as its westerly boundary.
Geography/Terrain
Lincoln Park is a flat neighborhood on the Lake Michigan shore. Extensive areas of landfill have enabled the creation of over 1200 acres of parkland and aquatic and recreational amenities.
Distance to 3 closest major cities
Lincoln Park is less than five miles from downtown Chicago and around 40 miles from cities in Indiana such as Gary and Hammond, and Racine, Wisconsin
Jobs
The last few years have seen a boom in development on Lincoln Park’s southern side, with huge upscale shopping centers opening along North Ave. and providing much new employment in retailing, administration, and other areas. In addition, of course, Lincoln Park’s location in the nation’s second-largest city guarantees that its residents have access to the widest possible range of employment choices.
Housing
Lincoln Park’s many trees and small parks make it one of Chicago’s greenest neighborhoods. A large proportion of its original brownstone and graystone houses have been converted into condominiums, and many single-family homes that were converted to multiple-housing buildings for students and young professionals years ago are now being restored to their original condition. Real estate prices reflect the wide range of housing types available.
Parks/Sports/Recreation/Golf
As distinct from the neighborhood, Lincoln Park is Chicago’s largest public open space. Covering 1200 acres along the Lake Michigan shore, it contains swimming beaches, rowing courses, a botanical conservatory, golf course, grassy meadows, formal gardens, miles of trails for walking, cycling, jogging and skating, and fields and courts for softball, athletics, soccer, tennis and basketball. The Park’s most popular attraction is the Lincoln Park Zoo, home to a wonderful collection of native and exotic animals, birds and reptiles, and with many special attractions to inform and entertain the whole family.
During the humid summer months Chicagoans flock to Lincoln Park’s North Avenue Beach to cool off and enjoy the outdoors. It’s a great place for a family picnic, and as well as swimming the beach offers over 50 volleyball courts, a mini fitness center and a roller hockey rink.
Lincoln Park’s Wrigley Field is a hugely popular facility, rich in sporting history. The home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team since 1916 and, until 1970, of the Chicago Bears NFL team, Wrigley Field’s ivy-covered brick walls and manual scoreboard contribute an intimate and friendly old-time atmosphere to the stadium. It has featured in a number of well-known movies and TV shows too, including The Blues Brothers and Robert Redford’s The Natural. Chicago ball fans love the place, and a visit to the Windy City is not complete without taking in a game there.
Lincoln Park offers a host of options for golfers, with literally dozens of courses within a short drive. Notable among them are the very conveniently situated Sidney Marovitz, on the lake shore at Wavelands and especially popular with beginners, the Robert A. Black, a nine-hole course that contains plenty of challenge for the more experienced player, and the recently renovated18-hole Indian Boundary Golf Course, located in the fabulous Forest Preserve, where sightings of deer are common.
Special Attractions/Events
First established in 1874 with the purchase of a single bear cub for $10, Lincoln Park Zoo now boasts a vast collection of exotic animals and birds, all housed in state-of-the-art enclosures that maximize the visitor’s opportunity to enjoy them in something very close to their natural habitat. The Zoo plays an active role in research and conservation throughout the world and offers Chicagoans something very special- and it is completely free!
Just a few years old, and America’s largest presidential library complex, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum are part of a $115 million complex dedicated to the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. The Library houses more than 46,000 items from Lincoln’s life, including handwritten copies of the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural Address among nearly 1,500 documents written or signed by the great man. Also included are fascinating personal documents and artifacts, including the Lincolns’ marriage license, a tablecloth from their wedding reception, the nameplate from their front door, and Mr. Lincoln's shaving mirror.
For modern music fans, the annual Lollapalooza Festival at Grant Park, a short drive from Lincoln Park is not to be missed. Held over three days in August, Lollapalooza features a staggering 130 bands on eight stages. With some of the biggest names in rock, dance, rap, soul and electronic music, including major acts like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Kanye West, Ween, and Thievery Corporation as well as a host of talented but lesser-known names this is a sensational event that has won wide renown and attracts visitors from across the nation.
At the Art Institute of Chicago in Lincoln Park visitors can enjoy one of the world’s greatest art collections. The museum’s exhibits follow the entire artistic history of humanity, from 5000 year-old Egyptian bronzes to late 20th Century sculpture, from American masters to French impressionists (including several remarkable paintings by Monet) to Japanese printmakers, and include paintings and drawings, photographs, textiles, sculpture and architectural works.
Interesting Facts/Historic Buildings and Places
Originally named Lake Park when it was first developed in 1864, Lincoln Park and the neighborhood that adjoined it acquired its current name after the assassination of the President in 1865. The area was settled largely by German, Irish, and Scottish immigrants, and began to grow rapidly during the period of reconstruction that followed Chicago’s Great Fire of 1871. Many working people, who had been affected by the fire, took advantage of cheap land and building costs to construct frame houses in the Lincoln Park area, with the result that 60% of the neighborhood’s current buildings date from the period from 1880 to 1904.
Chicago’s oldest and most interesting graveyard, Lincoln Park’s Graceland Cemetery was first established on the lakefront in 1860 but was later moved inland to its present site. It houses many interesting and historic graves, and is reputed to have several resident ghosts, the most famous of which is that of Inez Clarke, who died in 1880 after being struck by lightning while on a family picnic at the age of six years. Her family commissioned a Sicilian sculptor to carve a beautiful life-sized marble statue and installed it, protected from the elements by a glass box, on her grave, where it remains to this day.
Legend has it that from time to time, especially during thunderstorms, the statue of Inez temporarily vanishes from the box, and it is said that a young girl in Victorian clothing is sometimes seen wandering about the cemetery at night. Inez Clarke’s grave is still a popular spot for visitors to the cemetery, who often leave gifts of flowers and toys in memory of the long-dead girl.
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